Roscommon Scrutiny Report

NOAC Report No. 28 - May 2021

Web: www.noac.ie Email: [email protected] County Council Scrutiny Report

Chair’s Opening remarks

The Local Government Reform Act 2014 The preparation of the profile report also introduced significant changes to a wide range identifies the performance of local authorities of aspects of the local government system, in relevant NOAC reports and provides for including in relation to matters of accountability further examination of the results of these and oversight. In that regard, the Act provided reports. The Scrutiny Process requires time and for the establishment of the National Oversight resources from NOAC and the local authorities and Audit Commission (NOAC) as the statutory in preparation of the profile report and for the body overseeing the local government Stage 1 and Stage 2 meetings. NOAC considers sector. NOAC was established in July 2014 to date that the investment of time and under the 2014 Act to provide independent resources has been worthwhile and necessary. oversight of the local government sector. I have been struck by the welcome and sharing NOAC’s functions are wide ranging, involving of information that has taken place at the the scrutiny of performance generally and meetings. It has provided an opportunity to financial performance specifically, supporting learn, to listen to how the particular local best practice, overseeing implementation of authority operates, the challenges they face, national local government policy and monitoring the plans and ideas that have been developed and evaluating implementation of corporate and gives an opportunity to reflect on what plans, adherence to service level agreements is working well and areas that need to be and public service reform by local government addressed. It has identified areas of good bodies. practice and many of these ideas have been Since I became Chair of NOAC in September showcased at the NOAC Good Practice 2018, I continued the good work that had been Seminars over the years. I look forward to started by the previous NOAC Chair in meeting continuing to work closely and collaboratively with the Chief Executives of the local authorities with all the local authorities and want to use this and their Management teams. As outlined opportunity to thank all the Chief Executives below this process has evolved over time and and their teams for the time and courtesy and continues to evolve. welcome extended to NOAC in this process.

Michael McCarthy, Chair 20 May 2021

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Background The purpose to Profiles and Scrutiny Programme In February 2017, NOAC, in accordance with The process gives NOAC the opportunity to its statutory functions, began to review the have oversight of all the local authorities and performance of individual local authorities. The considers the factors that facilitates them starting point was getting an overall picture in performing well, along with the barriers derived from the performance indicator report that may exist relevant to the individual results, the Local Government Audit Service local authority. The meetings enable the (LGAS) audit reports, the financial position and local authorities to outline their strong and revenue collection performance. Information weak performing areas. It allows for further on private rented sector inspections, housing examination of the results of the performance stock management and maintenance data and indicators and shows the results in context. Customer Satisfaction was all considered by It must be emphasised that these meetings using the relevant data contained in the NOAC differ from the Performance Indicator (PI) reports published to date. Validation meetings which are carried out by the Performance Indicator Working Group At the outset the importance of the meetings to interrogate the results reported in relation was emphasised over and above the data to selected performance indicators. These which NOAC had regarding local authorities. meetings, while very informative, are specific to There was also an objective to broaden the the performance indicator process and do not NOAC members’ understanding of the work consider other areas of performance that NOAC of the local authorities and the individual have oversight of, including Customer Service, priorities and pressures they faced and to put Internal Audit, Corporate Plans etc. the information in context. Therefore, NOAC wanted to get the background perspective from During the meeting NOAC can see areas where the authorities and any other datasets that the consistent under-performance is highlighted and Councils consider should be taken into account. which can be examined further. It also allows Significant work is required to bring this part for exemplars of best practice to be identified together and the work of the NOAC Secretariat and used to share with other local authorities. and the local authority NOAC Coordinators The process as outlined, is not a follow up to must be acknowledged. the PI reports, but does enable consideration of issues that may warrant further clarification or Following an initial face to face meeting, which investigation in the PI process. Local authorities is called a Stage 1 meeting, local authorities have all indicated in the meetings thus far that were invited to a Stage 2 meeting where more they compare their performance and results detailed questions would be carried out in the in relation to what they deem as similar local areas of interest to NOAC, including customer authorities. This grouping could be reviewed service and IT investment, collection rates, the further by NOAC and adopted for the results of quality of information provision to the public some of its reports. Groupings are not only on etc. These meetings would take place after or size but, on levels of finances, urban and rural, latterly before the main NOAC board meeting staff numbers and other factors. with all the board members present.

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The Scrutiny Process The process has evolved over time, allowing it to become more structured, formal and documented. Given the importance of the work, it is led by the Chair of NOAC (or a delegated alternate, if required) with support from NOAC members and the Executive. The formal process agreed by the Board is termed as a constructive dialogue and is laid out below.

1 Stage 1 (NOAC Scrutiny Visit) Meeting held with NOAC Chair (or alternate) and/or one additional NOAC member and member(s) of the NOAC Executive. The Chief Executive and members of the management team, as invited by the Chief Executive shall attend. Stage 1 notice issued to Chief Executive of the local authority. Profile report prepared by NOAC Executive with input from the local authority. This is circulated along with an agenda to the local authority and NOAC attendees in advance of the visit. The report is based on general and specific information from NOAC reports relating to the local authority in question. Local authority to present on issues arising and take questions from attending NOAC members. Meeting minutes prepared and issued for comment.

2 Stage 2 (NOAC Scrutiny Meeting) Appearance at full NOAC meeting. The Chief Executive and members of the management team, as invited by the Chief Executive shall attend. Stage 2 notice to attend NOAC meeting issued to Chief Executive of local authority. Profile report updated as required and circulated along with an agenda to local authority and NOAC members in advance of the meeting. Local authority to present on issues arising and take questions from full NOAC board. Meeting minutes prepared for circulation to local authority for its comment.

3 Stage 3 (NOAC Sign off and Publication) Following completion of Stages 1 and 2 the Executive shall collate the material and present it to the NOAC Board as follows: - Final sign off on minutes / documents / reports. Comments / Findings / Recommendations to be made as required. Approval for completed records to be published.

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Progress to date

2017 2019 To commence the process, profiles were The format continued with 8 meetings with prepared in respect of , local authorities during the year. Five Stage Louth and Offaly County Councils and these 1 meetings and three Stage 2 meetings. The were forwarded to the Chief Executives of Stage 1 meetings were with Donegal County the authorities concerned. The NOAC Chair at Council, , Clare County the time, Pat McLoughlin, began this process Council, Waterford City and County Council with a meeting with the Chief Executive of and . Stage 2 meetings for a general discussion took place with Roscommon County Council, on the profile in August 2017. This Stage 1 and Donegal County meeting was followed by a similar meeting Council. with the Chief Executive of Cork City Council in September 2017. The final Stage 1 meeting 2020 to take place in 2017 was held with the Chief Executive of in October A meetings list was scheduled for 2020 to 2017. In December 2017 Louth County cover 6 additional local authorities. The year Council attended a meeting with NOAC after commenced with a Stage 1 meeting with the main NOAC Board meeting. This was in February, along the first Stage 2 meeting, which formed an with two Stage 2 meetings with Laois County important part of the overall process. These Council and Waterford City and County meetings served a particularly important Council. Further meetings were scheduled for function which allowed the Council to give April, however due to the COVID crisis these an overview of their work and also gave an meetings were required to be deferred. opportunity to the full NOAC Board to put The COVID restrictions presented some questions to the Council and understand their challenges to the meetings but it was decided situation in more depth. to continue the Stage 2 meetings virtually and meetings were held with Clare, Monaghan, 2018 Waterford City and County, Carlow and Sligo. These were carried out by the WebEx In 2018 the schedule consisted of eight platform. meetings with local authorities, four each for Stage 1 and Stage 2. A Stage 2 meeting was A socially distanced Stage 1 meeting was held with Offaly County Council in January held in person with Limerick City and County 2018. This was followed by another Stage Council in August and with Sligo County 2 meeting with Cork City Council in March Council in September 2020. 2018. A new Chair, Michael McCarthy, was 2021 appointed on 24 September 2018. The COVID has had a huge impact on local process continued with Westmeath County authorities, and in particular, for NOAC on Council in October 2018 and Kerry County the Scrutiny process. The Stage 1 meetings Council in December 2018. These were Stage have all been held in person thus far and 2 meetings with the full NOAC board as in restrictions have allowed for no Stage 1 these cases, the 2018 Performance Indicator meetings to be held yet in 2021. The Stage validation meetings for these authorities 2 meetings have progressed as these were were deemed sufficient as Stage 1 meetings. capable of being held remotely, with one Further Stage 1 meetings were held with held in January 2021 with Limerick City and Roscommon County Council and Tipperary County Council. It is hoped to make up for lost County Council. time as the restrictions are relaxed and plans are in place to commence Stage 1 meetings as soon as it is possible to do so.

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Future meetings and reports This report outlines the purpose and the procedures and while the process may continue to evolve it would not be expected at this time to produce another master report, similar to this one. This report takes into account the first 13 local authorities which have completed the process. It would be intended that once all stages in the scrutiny process has been fully completed with the relevant other local authorities that the report would be published on that basis and would form part of the suite of reports under the umbrella of the Scrutiny Report Process. Later in quarter 2, 2021, and Limerick City and County Council reports will be published. It is anticipated that progress will continue to be made with further Stage 1 and Stage 2 meetings so that each local authority will have participated in the process. It must be outlined that significant changes and delays have been experienced due to the restrictions imposed by COVID in 2020 and 2021.

Conclusion The process thus far allowed for the NOAC chairman and members to get a greater understanding and insight into the challenges that face each of the local authorities. Also, issues such as collection rates, staff numbers, inspection rates, finances that are included in reports in some cases benefit from the explanation and discussion as to the reason behind these figures. The meetings also enabled NOAC to see the various priorities that each local authority considered relevant to their citizens and how they overcame various challenges and how they work collaboratively with other local authorities, state bodies and stakeholders. Areas of Good Practice have been identified along the way and these have contributed to presentations of these projects at the NOAC Good Practice Seminars in 2017, 2019 and 2020. Roscommon County Council had their Stage 1 meeting in November 2018 and their Stage 2 meeting in January 2019. It is important to note that the material in this report is reflective of the position at that time. Therefore any changes to the profile from later NOAC reports are not included in this report. It was explained at the meeting how changes to work practices was difficult to make and gave rise to some unpopular decisions being made but has resulted in greater productivity and better value for the citizens that the local authority serves. Social media usage was also discussed and the Council explained how it uses twitter and Facebook and the target audience is mainly the younger population. There is a full time person dedicated to updating these. The greatest interaction took place during the bad weather. The county is in the middle of a digital transformation and that is a priority for the Council and it is planned to be completed within the year.

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Roscommon County Council Scrutiny Process

1. Roscommon County Council Profile November 2018 7 2. Stage 1 meeting November 2018– Minutes 18 3. Stage 2 Meeting January 2019- Minutes 20

6 Roscommon County Council Scrutiny Report 1 NOAC Profile Roscommon County Council Updated November 2018 Contents

General Information 8 Council Mission Statement 8 Staffing 9 Transparency International Ireland 9 2017 Budget 9 Housing Information 9 Specific Housing Issues 10 Economic Forum (CEF) 10 The Local Enterprise Office 10 Retail Incentives 10 The Corporate Plan 10 Shared services 10 Regional Issues including new developments and initiatives 10 Supporting Strategies 11 Other Relevant Information 11 NOAC Reports overview 12 NOAC Report no 19 - Performance Indicator Report 2017 – September 2018 12 NOAC Report No 17 - Internal Audit in Local Authorities - July 2018 13 NOAC Report No 16 - Review of 2015 Statutory Audit Reports to the Members of Local Authorities – June 2018 13 NOAC Report No 12 - A Review of the Management and Maintenance of Local Authority Housing - May 2017 13 NOAC Report 10 - Rented Houses Inspections A Review of Local Authority Performance of Private Rented Houses Regulations Functions – Oct 2016 14 NOAC Report 8 - Financial Performance of Local Authorities 2013-2015: Deficits, Audit Opinion and Financial Statements – April 2016 15 Performance Indicators 2014-2017 16

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Roscommon County Council General Information

Population: 64,544 Area: 2,445km2 Municipal Districts: 3 (Roscommon, , Boyle)

COUNCIL MISSION STATEMENT Vision To ensure, through collaboration and the provision of strong leadership in partnership with the community, that is an attractive, inclusive, prosperous and vibrant place to live, invest, work and visit.

To serve the communities of Roscommon with enthusiasm, courtesy and absolute respect. To revitalise the social, economic, cultural and environmental fabric of our towns and villages and rural communities.

To provide supports and mechanisms to empower all of our communities to grow. To ensure that the Council’s budget is effectively spent and accounted for.

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Staffing Number employed @ 31/12/2017 390.81 (W.T.E.) WTE Staff per 1,000 population 6.05

Percentage of paid working days lost to medically certified sick leave 2014 2.97% 2015 3.66% 2016 3.53% 2017 4.29% In 2016, 21 authorities exceeded their 3.5% public sector sick leave target. Roscommon was included in this list. This further increased to 4.29% for 2017.

Transparency International Ireland Rank 11- overall score 15/30 Transparency 6/10 Accountability 6/10 Ethics 3/10

Budget 2018 €54,457,900 (€844 PP) 2017 €52,407,000 (€812 PP) 2016 Population

Collection Rates 2017 2016 2015 Rate collection rates 83% 91% 93% Rent collection rates 91% 92% 89% Housing loan collection rates 56% 58% 75%

Housing Information at 31/12/17 Local Authority Stock number 1,405 Number currently on waiting list 446 net of transfers HAP Tenancies 254

Number of adult Individuals classified as 0 homeless and in emergency accommodation The number out of those individuals who, 0 on 31/12/2017, had been in emergency accommodation for 6 months continuously, or for 6 months cumulatively within the previous 12 months

Homeless presentations 2015 63 presented 2016 45 presented 2017 57 presented

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Specific housing issues Retail Incentives There is no housing crisis in Roscommon. Roscommon is moving to spread potential Supply exceeds demand and most of investment throughout the county away the housing list is in private rented from Monksland area. accommodation and they do not want to Roscommon is aligned to Athlone.ie exit from it. Roscommon has a very large number of The Corporate Plan unfinished housing estates (not including Adoption Section 134 (subsections (1) and (2)) vacant properties). of the Local Government Act 2001 requires Roscommon County Council attributed the local authorities to prepare a Corporate Plan decrease in its rent and annuity collection every 5 years. The Plans should be submitted level to the addition of backdated rent to to the elected members for approval within 6 customer accounts following a 2015 rent months of the annual meeting that takes place 2 review and the resignation of a member weeks after the day on which the local elections of the cash collection team (2015 Audit were held, which date in 2014 was 23 May. response). Roscommon was one of 9 Councils that did not In the 2016 PI report there was a vacancy comply with these statutory deadlines. The Plan rate of 6% which is double the average has now been adopted. rate and the re letting time is 64.82 weeks compared to average of 32.99 weeks. In Shared services 2017 this reduced to 53.69 weeks however Payroll and element of Fire Services the national average also decreased to 28.9 weeks. Roscommon Laboratory carries out Water testing and analysis on behalf of Irish Water The average cost for reletting repairs is for some adjacent counties €11,355 compared to the national average cost of €17,161. Regional Issues including new Economic Forum (CEF) developments and initiatives With regard to The National Planning N/A. Framework 2040, Roscommon worked hard to support the inclusion of Athlone as a designated The Local Enterprise Office regional capital and have aligned themselves to Roscommon has a strong and successful Local support and benefit from the growth of Athlone. Enterprise Office. On-going initiatives to They also see potential for the development promote local food businesses in Roscommon of towns like Boyle to benefit from the include: regeneration and development funds. ‘Going North’ in partnership with LEO Longford and Mayo ‘Ireland West Food Project’ in partnership with Galway and Mayo LEO to facilitate distribution to UK.

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Supporting Strategies Other relevant information Roscommon County Council has become more Roscommon has suffered from a lack of involved in shared partnerships as follows: political representation at Cabinet level with Partnership with Coillte in Lough Key Forest infrastructural deficits towards the north of Park the county in particular. They consider that they are a lost county in terms of exposure Stakeholder in Ireland West Airport, Knock to investment. Partner in Ireland West Trade Centre, In terms of their geographical position, Providence R.I. USA they are not positioned as part of the Wild Included in the Atlantic Economic Corridor Atlantic Way and their exposure to the initiative tourism market was thus affected. They Part of the Beara-Breifni Way Initiative are now included in Failte Ireland tourism brand for the Midlands - ‘Irelands Hidden Heartlands’. Roscommon town has no national primary route. The draw of Dublin to the East and Galway to the West has left them in what they consider to be a vulnerable position. Roscommon county has highest % population of older old in the 80+ year age category at 4.4% and in top three of age 65+ The settlement pattern in the county is dispersed with over 60km of road per 1,000 population compared to the national average of 21km. It has the eighth highest length of regional and local roads in the country. This rural nature of the county leads to social exclusion areas with wellbeing for some of its citizens a concern. They have the third lowest rate base in the country and low local property tax valuation and therefore their dependence on the inadequate Local Government Fund is a concern. More recently the Boundary issue of Monksland and the alignment of Monksland with Athlone has complicated further with two Regional Assemblies involved.

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NOAC Reports Overview NOAC was established in July 2014 as an Roads independent statutory body to provide In respect of PSCI rating 7–8 (surface defects) oversight of the local government sector in Roscommon County Council had the lowest Ireland. NOAC’s functions are wide ranging, percentage of regionals roads given this rating involving the scrutiny of performance generally (at 27%) and had the and financial performance specifically. NOAC highest percentage of its regional road given this also supports best practice, oversees the rating (74%). implementation of national local government policy, monitors and evaluates implementation In respect of PSCI rating 9–10 (no defects or of corporate plans, adherence to service level less than 10% defective) agreements and public service reform by local had the lowest percentage of regional roads government bodies. in this category (8%) and Roscommon County Council had the highest percentage of its Since 2017 NOAC publishes annual local regional roads given this rating (49%). authority Performance Indicators and composite Public Spending Code Quality Assurance Reports. From the 20 reports published to date Planning matters relevant to Roscommon County Council The number of planning appeals to An Bord are outlined in the points below: Pleanála decreased by 1.93%, bringing the total number of appealed decisions in 2017 to 1,423. NOAC REPORT NO 19 The overall Bord Pleanála confirmed cases figure of 1,126 in 2016 increased slightly to 1,131 in Performance Indicator Report 2017. The percentage of determinations that 2017 – September 2018 confirmed the decision made by the authority decreased for 15 authorities with Roscommon The annual Performance Indicator Report noting a substantial drop of 33.33% from published by NOAC is one of its key reports 2016 to 2017. Roscommon was one of two every year. NOAC has the function of local authorities with the lowest decision scrutinising local authority performance confirmation rates at 50% each. against relevant indicators. NOAC believes that monitoring performance over time and against Fire comparable authorities has the potential to Roscommon County Council had the longest encourage continuous improvement in local average mobilisation time of 7.01 minutes for authority service provision. fires, although this was an improvement on mobilisation times in 2016 Points to Note Housing Finance Roscommon County Council recorded the Roscommon had the largest reduction in rate highest proportion of the stock re-let during the collection performance from 91% in 2016 to year nationally at 7.3% (103 units). 83% in 2017. In relation to the homeless figures it was stated that the only slight positive to be drawn from these statistics is that in 2017, as well as Leitrim and Roscommon County Councils, had no adults in emergency accommodation at the end of the year; in 2016 it was only Leitrim and Roscommon.

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NOAC REPORT NO 17 NOAC REPORT NO 16 Internal Audit in Local Review of 2015 Statutory Audit Authorities - July 2018 Reports to the Members of Roscommon county Council advised that they Local Authorities – June 2018 have an internal audit function and was one of Income collection dis-improvement -Auditors the only authorities that opted for on-the-job drew specific attention to a dis-improved training approach. Roscommon was again one of housing loans or rents collection performance the only authorities to declare that the internal in Roscommon. Roscommon County Council auditor had no stated formal qualification. attributed the decrease in its rent and annuity Roscommon was one of four authorities where collection level to the addition of backdated the head of Internal Audit reported to the rent to customer accounts following a 2015 rent Director of Finance. In relation to the frequency review and the resignation of a member of the with which Internal Audit met with the Audit cash collection team. Committee in 2016 Roscommon indicated that it had had no meeting. The Internal Audit budget for 2017 was €57,300. Housing Rents The Local Government Audit Service overview 2014 93% report stated that: 2015 89% There was no effective internal audit function in place throughout 2016, which is a breach of Housing Loans the regulations referred to. As a consequence of the lack of an effective Internal Audit Unit 2014 53% (IAU), no reports were prepared in 2016 and 2015 75% this contributed to the absence of a functioning Audit Committee. Management need to ensure NOAC REPORT NO 12 that an adequately resourced IAU is in place for future years. A Review of the Management Chief Executive’s Response - An Internal and Maintenance of Local Auditor was appointed in Q2 2016 however, Authority Housing - May 2017 due to exceptional circumstances the position was not taken up until Q1 2017. A number of High Demand Housing Prioritised policy documents have been developed, reports Prioritising the refurbishment of housing in high have been drafted and three Audit Committee demand is a method being used by Roscommon meetings have taken place in 2017 with a to minimise vacancies. further meeting scheduled for December 2017. Rental Income and Local Property Tax In terms of the proportion of cumulative rent owed that was collected by end 2014, Roscommon at 93% was one of the highest.

Establishing the Condition of Local Authority Housing Stock Roscommon is one of 15 Local Authorities to have ever carried out a survey of condition of their Local Authority Housing Stock. Audit unit is working well.

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2017 2016 2015 2014 Average time from vacation date 53.69 64.82 74.40 56.39 to PI year re-letting date (weeks) Average cost expended on €11,355.38 €10,275.12 €10,112.40 €7,167.18 getting re-tenanted units ready for re-letting Average repair and maintenance €829.86 €501.96 €425.51 €474.00 cost per unit

NOAC REPORT NO 10 Rented Houses Inspections - A Review of Local Authority Performance of Private Rented Houses Regulations Functions October 2016 26 local authorities set target numbers of inspections each year. This target appears to be resource driven in most cases. Eight said that they set a minimum cycle within which to inspect all properties, though this cycle varied from three to five years. Based on the levels of inspection actually achieved in 2014, it is likely that inspection intervals generally are quite long. Of those authorities that had set inspection intervals, only two –Roscommon and South Dublin – had set target inspection levels sufficient to meet the intervals that they had established. The amount spent by local authorities when related to their registered tenancies varied substantially. In general, those with smaller numbers of tenancies had higher costs per registered tenancy. This may indicate that their fixed costs (the cost of maintaining an administrative and inspection capacity) contributed to higher unit costs. Roscommon County Council had the highest expenditure per registered property of all the local authorities in 2014, with a figure of €80.22 per registered tenancy being spent. The average expenditure was €11.74 per tenancy. 20% of all rented properties in Roscommon were inspected and a non-compliance/failure rate of 77% was recorded

2014 2017 Number of Registered Tenancies 2,493 2,987 Expenditure on Private Rented €200,000 not available Sector Functions in 2014 % Units inspected 20% 4.96% Inspected Failed % 77% 89.47%

Data from report relates to 2014, data for 2017 taken from Performance Indicator Report

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NOAC REPORT NO 8 Financial Performance of Local Authorities 2013-2015: Deficits, Audit Opinion and Financial Statements – April 2016

Revenue Balance – Roscommon General Revenue Income Balance as % Income Balance 2013 149,312 61,777,620 0.24% 2014 166,848 57,896,036 0.29% 2015* 150,145 56,600,000 0.38% 2016* 172,692 61,111,000 0.47%

*Updated data not included in Original report. Roscommon was one of 8 Local Authorities deemed to be compliant with the submission of AFS by the deadline of 31st March each year. Roscommon have continued to comply with this requirement for 2015 and 2016. The 2017 AFS has not been published on the Council’s website.

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Performance Indicators 2017 2016 Data Median/ Data Median/ Average Average

H1 Social Housing provided in year per 1,000 population 0.59 0.53 n/a 3.43 H2 % of directly provided dwellings vacant at 31/12 3.49 2.73 6.07 3.02 H3a Average time from vacation date to PI year re-letting 53.69 28.9 64.82 32.99 date (weeks) H3b Average cost expended on getting re-tenanted units €11,355.38 €17,160.60 €10,275.12 €15,877 ready for re-letting H4 Average repair and maintenance cost per unit €829.86 €1,311.82 €501.96 €1,500.23 H5 Inspections (Dwellings inspected) carried out in year as 6.99 4.96 5.43 4.36 % of registrations R1a % Regional Road KM that ever received a PSCI rating 98 96 100.00 99 R1b % Total Regional Road KM with a PSCI rating of 9-10 49 28 42.00 30 R1c % Total Primary Road KM with a PSCI rating of 9-10 17 20 11.00 13 R1d % Total Secondary Road KM with a PSCI rating of 9-10 14 14 7.00 10 R1e % Total Tertiary Road KM with a PSCI rating of 9-10 8 8 4.00 7 R2a KM Regional Road strengthened using road 8.10 10.3 9.70 10.8 improvement grants R2b KM Regional road resealed using road maintenance 0 11.9 0.10 12.2 grants R2/3 % Motor tax transactions performed online 51.26 65.95 50.07 64.05 W1 % private schemes with water quality in compliance 95.02 98.46 99.01 97.77 E1 % households availing of a 3-bin service 11.78 39.53 9.02 37.7 E2 Pollution cases on hand at year end as % of the cases 14.82 9.79 7.59 9.91 that arose that year E3 % area unpolluted or litter free 29 10 31.00 13 P1 New buildings inspected as % of new buildings notified 17.20 17 19.42 19.42 P2 % of determinations that confirmed the decision made 50 79 83.33 77.78 by LA P3 Ratio of planning cases being investigated at year end 1.98 2.41 1.98 2.87 as to cases closed P4 Cost per capita of the Planning Service €32.77 €28.31 €35.16 €26.96 F1 Cost per capita of Fire Service (based on 2011 Census €68.69 €57.74 €58.59 €56.07 for 2014 and 2015) F2 Average time to mobilise Brigade re Fire (Minutes) (FT) n/a 1.45 n/a 1.5 F3 % of Fire Cases in which first attendance is within 10 20.17 40.45 16.30 57.79 minutes L1a No. of Library visits per head of population 2.09 3.56 2.07 3.61 L1b No. of Items borrowed per head of population 3.26 2.92 2.65 3.82 L2 Cost of Library Service per capita €28.28 €31.00 €25.94 €30.05 Y1 % of local schools involved in Comhairle na nÓg 87.50 69.04 100.00 68.07 Scheme C1 WTE staff per 1,000 population 6.05 5.75 5.96 5.64 C2a % of paid working days lost to medically certified sick 4.29 3.74 3.53 3.76 leave in year C2b % of paid working days lost to self-certified sick leave 0.25 0.33 0.23 0.38 in year C3 LA website page views per 1,000 population 12,079 14,632 7,350.54 12,422 C4 Overall cost of ICT Provision per WTE €2,846.00 €3,048.41 2,935.00 €2,675.69 M2a % Commercial Rates Collected in year 83 83 91.00 82.3 M2b % Rent & Annuities Collected in year 91 89 92.00 88.0 M2c % Housing Loans Collected in year 56.00 74 58.00 70 J1 LEO jobs output per 1,000 population 0.89 0.68 0.60 0.7

Per population based on census figures for 2011 and 2016 (64,065 in 2011 and 64,544 in 2016

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Performance Indicators 2015 2014 Data Median/ Data Median/ Average Average

H1 Social Housing provided in year per 1,000 population 1.03 1.91 1.11 0.80 H2 % of directly provided dwellings vacant at 31/12 9.31 3.5 8.75 3.8 H3a Average time from vacation date to PI year re-letting 74.40 28.43 56.39 31.43 date (weeks) H3b Average cost expended on getting re-tenanted units €10,112.40 €13,378.40 €7,167.18 €11,534.91 ready for re-letting H4 Average repair and maintenance cost per unit €425.51 €1,292.57 €474.00 €1,272.30 H5 Inspections (Dwellings inspected) carried out in year as 25.49 5.64 30.00 6.51 % of registrations R1a % Regional Road KM that ever received a PSCI rating 97.00 68 100.00 47.9 R1b % Total Regional Road KM with a PSCI rating of 9-10 43.00 20 32.16 11.15 R1c % Total Primary Road KM with a PSCI rating of 9-10 6.00 11 0.00 6.4 R1d % Total Secondary Road KM with a PSCI rating of 9-10 3.00 8 0.00 4.61 R1e % Total Tertiary Road KM with a PSCI rating of 9-10 3.00 5 0.00 3.63 R2a KM Regional Road strengthened using road 16.90 10.2 improvement grants R2b KM Regional road resealed using road maintenance 2.10 8.3 grants R2/3 % Motor tax transactions performed online 44.12 56.6 39.81 54.7 W1 % private schemes with water quality in compliance 99.26 99.07 96.90 97.9 E1 % households availing of a 3-bin service 7.85 34.87 7.08 31.66 E2 Pollution cases on hand at year end as % of the cases 33.09 8.49 that arose that year E3 % area unpolluted or litter free 21.00 14 12.00 9.5 P1 New buildings inspected as % of new buildings notified 24.00 24 30.00 17.71 P2 % of determinations that confirmed the decision made 55.56 71.88 75.00 71.7 by LA P3 Ratio of planning cases being investigated at year end 1.45 2.61 1.63 2.88 as to cases closed P4 Cost per capita of the Planning Service €38.05 €26.76 €53.19 €25.27 F1 Cost per capita of Fire Service (based on 2011 Census €69.91 €57.88 €58.60 €55.9 for 2014 and 2015) F2 Average time to mobilise Brigade re Fire (Minutes) (FT) N/A 1.6 N/A 1.66 F3 % of Fire Cases in which first attendance is within 10 25.12 56.98 33.33 58.6 minutes L1a No. of Library visits per head of population 2.21 3.68 3.30 3.71 L1b No. of Items borrowed per head of population 2.95 3.82 L2 Cost of Library Service per capita 27.30 €30.02 22.09 €29.41 Y1 % of local schools involved in Comhairle na nÓg 100.00 67.59 48.44 51.86 Scheme C1 WTE staff per 1,000 population 6.31 5.58 6.37 5.63 C2a % of paid working days lost to medically certified sick 3.66 3.52 2.97 3.34 leave in year C2b % of paid working days lost to self-certified sick leave 0.23 0.39 0.28 0.4 in year C3 LA website page views per 1,000 population 6,544.48 11,666 2,107.23 9,651 C4 Overall cost of ICT Provision per WTE 3,658.36 €2,680.15 3,037.00 €2,646.8 M2a % Commercial Rates Collected in year 93.00 83 80.00 77 M2b % Rent & Annuities Collected in year 89.00 85 93.00 84 M2c % Housing Loans Collected in year 75.00 68 53.00 67 J1 LEO jobs output per 1,000 population 0.57 0.66 0.17 0.73

17 Roscommon County Council Scrutiny Report 2 Stage 1 meeting National Oversight and Audit Commission Profile Meeting with Roscommon County Council

Date: 1 November 2018 Venue: Roscommon County Council Attendees: Roscommon County Council: NOAC Eugene Cummins, Chief Executive Michael McCarthy, Chairperson Claire Gavin, Secretariat

Roscommon profile information issued by NOAC Online motor tax has seen a small increase in in advance of the meeting to Roscommon use but is still lagging behind many counties. County Council and this was the basis for the This can be explained because the county has discussion on the day. a large elderly population and it is difficult to get them to change. It is hoped that this will Eugene Cummins welcomed NOAC and gave an improve but it must be noted that it is not a rich outline of the Council and the issues facing it. county and would perhaps be described as a Matters discussed in detail were: place that is somewhat lost in time due to the The use of human resources and the issue elderly population. of flexi leave and how the abuse of the flexi Housing is not an issue in Roscommon. Many systems can lead to a loss of vital resources vacant properties have been brought back and valuable hours. The CE would welcome to use and the issue with unfinished housing NOAC taking this matter on board and to carry estates has been tackled somewhat but there out possibly a national review of the misuse still is a large surplus of unfinished estates. Many of resources by flexi time additional hours. on their waiting list are now in private rented He queried if an indicator for Performance and are happy to stay where they are. Refusal Management could be developed to address this rates of social properties can be in the region of issue. 40%. Monksland is the area many want to live in now and refusals of other locations are common.

18 Roscommon County Council Scrutiny Report

There is not a homeless issue in Roscommon PRTB inspections were low as the priority There is currently an estate to be developed was to get the voids back and resources as part of the next PPP bundle were used for this first. Refugees are a new cohort looking for Fire Stats are based on fire area and not the accommodation in the county and this is county and this skews the figures. The cost going well. per capita is based on the fire ground not the county. Unfinished houses - there is a team working with the banks, chasing up on bonds etc. Roads come out well in the report. Some of these houses the la buy and they IT overall cost appears high as there is a work with the developer to complete the small number of staff. units in some cases. P4 cost per capita : structure of costs of Despite the surplus of accommodation, planning is not always comparable, you are Roscommon does not attract people from not always comparing like with like. the city despite the fact that there is ample P3 Long standing historic batches with property for them. The large homeless on-going issues may not be a priority population in Dublin would not take up the application and differentiations between units either. Apart from a small development current and historic applications would in Boyle there is no other building of social have merit. Often it is found that the agent housing as there is a surplus of properties in uses the planning process as part of their the county. correction process to avoid the agents doing Social media usage was discussed and it was the validation themselves. advised that the Council use twitter and There is a difference between accountability Facebook, the target audience is mainly the and using the hard earned money for the younger population. There is a full time person people of Roscommon to grow the county. dedicated to updating it all the time. During the bad weather was the time when there was Housing Indicators are good as are the PRTB the biggest interaction. The county is in the useful to track progress. middle of a digital transformation and that is a Managing people’s money is very important priority for the Council and it is planned to be and the issue of turning a blind eye to completed within the year. The areas that will misuse of time through the flexi process is a need particular attention will be the older and matter of great concern. In Roscommon now socially deprived citizens. The impact of GDPR only authorised additional flexi hours can be has being considered and data management is a worked up and it is based on a business and priority that the Council are working on. operational case being made and approved. Reference was made to the issue of unpaid VAT In 2016 Roscommon was the worst which saw the Council having to pay Revenue performing in terms of fire and this was significant fines relative to the unpaid amount. a big issue for the Council and this was This was reported in the media and discussed in reviewed arising from the NOAC report and the Council chamber at the October meeting. It it prompted management to take corrective was an oversight and the fines and outstanding action. VAT was paid. Issues that could be considered for future PI The PI report was discussed and the issue is the matter of Refugees and resettlement regarding Roscommon’s performance in the of them report around planning was correct but the The relevance of the inclusion of the figures referred to were only 2 cases so what Corporate Plan material in the profile was being discussed was very low numbers material was mentioned. Given that there and did not warrant the narrative in the report. are significant changes since 2014 the merit NOAC agreed that this was a valid point and of it was questioned agreed to refer it to the PI Subgroup. Other Mr Cummins accepted the invitation to attend points to note are the full NOAC meeting in January. Date for the meeting is Tuesday 15th of January 2019 attendance would be required for 11am.

19 Roscommon County Council Scrutiny Report 3 Stage 2 meeting January 2019 – Minutes National Oversight and Audit Commission Meeting with Roscommon County Council

Date: 15 January 2019 Venue: Withdrawing Room, Custom House, Dublin 1 Attendees: Chairman: Roscommon County Council: Michael McCarthy Eugene Cummins, Chief Executive Members: Martin Lydon – Director of Services Tara Buckley Greg O’Donnell, A/Senior Executive Officer Martina Moloney Dave Holohan Connie Hanniffy Sharon O’Connor John Buckley Michael McGreal Secretariat: Lisa Clifford Claire Gavin Neill Dalton Colin Flood Apologies Paul Lemass Colleen Savage

The Chair welcomed the Chief Executive and his team to the meeting. The Chief Executive provided an update to the group on matters concerning the Council and the challenges that they face. The Chief Executive and his team then proceeded to answer questions from the NOAC members.

20 Roscommon County Council Scrutiny Report

Finance Internal Audit The NOAC Board queried how a settlement the The NOAC Board advised on the importance Council had to make with Revenue came about. of having a robust internal audit function Roscommon outlined that this was due to an within local authorities. The Chief Executive administrative error, which has been resolved. agreed that the internal audit is important for Checks are now in place to avoid a reoccurrence local authorities and is an integral part of the of the error. governance of Roscommon County Council. He advised that Roscommon now have a good The Council’s bad debt provision has reduced; internal audit team in place with good processes development contributions gave rise to this and procedures that are continuously monitored calculation and the figures were reduced to a and assessed. net figure to be realistic. The NOAC Board also queried a drop, since Performance Indicators 2015, in the collection level of commercial rates. In 2015 the collection rate was 93%, The NOAC Board congratulated Roscommon 91% in 2016 and down to 83% in 2017. The on having the best rated roads featured the Roscommon Team advised that the figures for Performance Indicators Report 2017. The NOAC 2015 and 2016 were technically adjusted, giving Board raised the issue of re-letting times for a skewed baseline for the 2017 figure. social housing as it was high in Roscommon. The Council team advised that this issue was exacerbated by the Council bringing a number Fire of voids back onto the system and into use The NOAC Board raised the fact that which skewed the 2017 figure. However, there Roscommon County Council had the slowest were no voids in 2018; the derelict funding turnout of their Fire Service of any of the programme has helped Roscommon to address 31 Local Authorities. The Chief Executive this issue. acknowledged this fact and advised that the figures had in fact improved on last year and Regeneration would continue to improve. The Council discussed the high level of dereliction in Boyle and Castlerea. To combat Flexi Leave this, a Town Centre Regeneration Team The NOAC Board queried the issues that led to was founded. Under the Urban and Rural strikes by staff in Roscommon County Council Regeneration Schemes several projects are over flexi leave, noting that the system was being assessed including the possible relocation highly valued by employees with families. The of the Mart in Roscommon Town. Other projects Chief Executive explained that flexible working are the Boyle 2040 programme as a result arrangements are available to all grades and of the purchase of the Royal Hotel in Boyle, widely used within the Council. The Chief refreshing the town centre in Roscommon, and Executive advised that there was no issue with to provide new public realm improvements and staff availing of flexi-time but flexi leave could enhancements for town centres so as to entice be generated by all grades up to and including people back living into towns. grade 7, once a business and operational need was identified and approved by the line Ghost Estates manager. The NOAC Board raised the issue of the high number of ghost estates in the county. The Council team advised that this issue is a particular issue in the north of the county where a Section 23 tax incentive grant was available. The issue does not occur in the south of the county were the grant was not available.

21 Roscommon County Council Scrutiny Report

LEOs The NOAC Board and the Council discussed the Local Enterprise Office in Roscommon County Council. Job creation was listed in the 2017 Performance Indicator Report as 57.5 jobs, and 306 people were mentored under the program. The Council advised that they had one of the most successful LEO’s nationwide and they have a great team who are often cited as an example of best practice.

Infrastructure While roads in the county are good order, IDA has had limited success in attracting FDI to the area. Monksland and Athlone have done well, but this is not the case for the rest of the county. This is a particular challenge for the local authority.

Conclusion The NOAC Chair thanked the Chief Executive and his team for coming in to meet with NOAC and for providing valuable insight into the work of the Council.

22 National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC) An Coimisiúin Náisiúnra Maoirseachta & Iniúchoóireachta

Postal Address: Custom House, Dublin 1, D01 W6X0. Website: www.noac.ie Email: [email protected]